We’ve seen some precipitation up in the higher elevation the last few days so Castle Country Radio thought it to be a great idea to speak over the telephone with Utah Division of Water Resources Director, Candice Hasenyager to talk about where we are water wise after recent storms.

“We peaked out about 10 days early, so like we’ve talked about in January, April 1 is typically when we see our peak snowpack but we actually peaked out on March 22 and then, unfortunately, have already started melt process, our run-off process and our snowpack is melting,” said Hasenyager. Its really not what officials want to see overall statewide right now, we’re about 60 percent of normal which puts us exactly where we were last year at this time.

“So you and your area, you’re a little bit better than the state-wide average, ranging from, you know, 66 percent to about 70 percent depending on exactly what watershed you’re in. It’s a little bit better than state-wide, but overall, we really need to see more snow up in our higher mountain,” said Hasenyager. Officials are grateful for the precipitation that we did receive this week.

With the water levels not where they should be it’s important to practice water conservation. “So the biggest way we can save significant amounts of water right now is really just waiting to water, waiting to turn on your irrigation system. Your soils all got a good drink of the snow that has melted and landscaping and the plants can dig their roots a little deeper to get that precipitation that’s already in the ground,” said Hasenyager. It’s important to wait till temperatures increase before thinking about watering outdoors.

The Division of Water Resources has a wonderful website https://water.utah.gov/ that lists different ways to conserve water. “There’s a link to our Facebook page on our website as well as our Weekly Lawn Watering Guide, where you can go see that information on how often you should be watering generally it’s a great resource,” said Hasenyager. You can also see water data, projects and the latest news taking place with the Division of Water Resources.